Scubafest Cornwall Review
During the week before Scubafest, everyone was watching the wind forecast. It wasn’t looking good for any diving around the resort at Pentewan, near Mevagissey in Cornwall. There were to be two hard boats based in Mevagissey and a RIB running from Pentewan beach. During the previous week, both of the hard boats had said they weren’t going to change base to Mevagissey with the easterly winds forecasted. The RIB operators, Atlantic Scuba, were going to be on site and were going to make a decision on the morning of each day.
The event technically runs from the Saturday to the Monday, with most people arriving on the Friday. There were a few early arrivals on the Thursday to an otherwise empty camp site. The weather conditions were ideal; the sea was flat and the sun was out, but what would tomorrow bring?
By Friday morning, Atlantic Scuba had set up their pitch and the ‘Toy Town’ yurts were being erected. It wasn’t long before the yurts were being filled with shiny dive kit. Several manufacturers and distributors were exhibiting, as well as various agencies including PADI, SDI, TDI, SSI, RAID, BSAC, RNLI and the Marine Conservation Society. Sea & Sea were displaying Dive Rite, Liquivision, Seac Sub, Ocean Reef, IST and more. Liquid Sports were displaying Ursuit drysuits, Big Blue torches and Sharkskin suits. Atlantic Scuba had some Kwark undersuits for people to try and a range of Tecline regulators. Manufacturers included Suunto, Mares, Typhoon, and Apeks/Aqualung. Bauer were there, providing air fills for everyone who wanted it.
Saturday morning arrived, as did the forecasted winds and rain. Atlantic Scuba made the decision not to bring their RIB around; instead, they advised people on where to dive and what boats were available on the north Cornish coast. Divers were sent to Newquay, Port Quin and Port Gaverne for shore diving. Others were sent to Rock or Newquay for boat diving whilst any club RIBs were directed to Rock for easy launching to some great sites. The Toy Town yurts were busy, with a steady flow of both locals and divers who had decided to stay ashore.
Sunday was almost the same as Saturday; the wind had veered a little more towards the south but the sea state was the same. There was, as the Cornish call it, a bit of the Cornish sea mist that tried to dampen the spirits. Diving continued along the north coast, the yurts saw another steady flow of visitors.
Monday was by far the best day weather wise. Divers went in off of the beach, RIBs were being launched, a few more people wandered around the yurts. But the event was winding down, the camp site was emptying, and ScubaFest 2015 was over. Talking to the clubs and groups during the event, their numbers were greatly reduced because of the weather forecast. What they never realised was that there is always somewhere to dive in Cornwall. The two coasts are only a maximum of forty five minutes away from each other; with one or the other in the lee of the wind, there is always diving going on in Cornwall.
